Curiosity and Desperation. The story of quick brown fox

WORDS BY ARJUN HASZARD, FOUNDER

When I was young I followed my heart to Dunedin. I'd been living in Wellington prior, a larger city where I had a decent job and plenty of friends. It was, in hindsight, one of those pivotal life decisions. And for months after arriving the situation wasn't looking good. I couldn't find work and felt miserable. It was a desperate time and without work, I found myself with time on my hands. A blank slate some would say.

Earlier that year my mother had handed me some large mason jars; she'd been tinkering with a feijoa liqueur recipe and she suggested I make my own. But alas, when it came to the time to tinker I didn't have feijoas. (Feijoas, for those out of NZ readers, are a little popular NZ fruit also known as "Pineapple Guavas") I did however have a liking for coffee. So I made a palatable coffee liqueur. I enjoyed sharing it with friends and family who visited and occasionally tinkered further with the recipe. All with household ingredients.

Many months later I found myself visiting friends in Wellington, and I was talking to a friend who worked as a barista at a theatre. He was explaining how during an intermission he had a long line of coffee-lovers queuing, and he had to rush to make the coffee fast enough while retaining quality in every serve. It hit me like a lightning bolt - there is a connection between people who are artistic, creative, theatre-going, fun-loving, worldly, social and real, organic coffee.

This moment gave me clarity. I wanted to make a coffee liqueur for them.

I envisaged it at every theatre and every restaurant, feeding conversation for those night time coffee drinkers.

There was much to learn, coffee, as it turns out, is one of the most complex food or drinks in the world. With 900 volatile compounds it was going to be tricky making a coffee liqueur with nothing artificial.

But I was curious. And desperate. The tinkering turned obsession, turned into a year and a half and finally, I found the recipe that is Quick Brown Fox Coffee Liqueur.

This drink is most definitely about sophisticated simplicity. About coffee. And about connection.

Enjoy every sip.

Some information you might find useful about quick brown fox:

This product contains alcohol at 20% by volume. The alcohol is derived from Australian wheat grain and is of premium quality.

There is approximately 20mg caffeine per 30ml serve. That's the equivalent of about a third of a cup of espresso coffee.

This product is suitable for the vegan connoisseur. I would like to say it's suitable for the coeliac connoisseur but I really don't want to accidentally harm you if you are sensitive. I am happy to say while the alcohol is derived from wheat no gluten remains in the product.

The product is called 'Quick Brown Fox' to conjure memories of learning to write which is the foundation of communication.

The words are from the pangram "A quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". This is the shortest, most succinct sentence in the English language that contains every letter in the alphabet. It is indeed more succinct than "Grumpy wizards make toxic brew for the evil Queen and Jack"